The relationship between federal and state constitutions is somewhat complicated.

On the one hand, the federal Constitution is superior to that of the states. No state can have a provision within its constitution that violates the Constitution of the US. For example, then, no state today could set up an established religion or allow slavery since those things are explicitly banned under the US Constitution.

On the other hand, state constitutions may go beyond the US Constitution in some ways. For example, a state may give more rights to a group than the US Constitution does. In the past, some states outlawed slavery before the US Constitution banned it. Today, some states provide more in the way of protections for gay people than the US does.

In these ways, state constitutions are inferior to the US Constitution, but may go beyond it in some ways.